As is generally well known, retail store checkout counters typically have an associated bagging station where purchased goods are placed into plastic bags. Many permit only one bag at a time to be loaded. Some others have a facility enabling multiple bags to be alternatively as items are rung up, depending on the type of item and room remaining in a bag. In some instances, the bagging station is a carousel type, much like that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,218 to Nguyen. This discloses a triangle-shaped carousel. A circular carousel was disclosed by Lantz et al. in U.S. Patent Application 2005/0114216 with bag hanging arms or hooks on each of the sides.
Conzolo et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,924,743 discloses a notification system for alerting shoppers about to leave a store without a portion of their bagged purchases. One key feature of Conzolo is a customer detector for determining if the shopper has stepped a certain distance from the bagging area. Another key feature is a merchandise detector that could be a weight detector, a video camera, or an electromechanical switch on the checkout counter. Also, the customer is not alerted until after they have stepped away from the bagging area.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved cost-effective apparatus to alert customers starting to depart a store checkout station if any of their bags are about to be left behind, particularly on a bagging carousel where they have been rotated out of sight.